Abstract
Language is an
important instrument in the hands of newspapers reporters. Thus, this study
critically explored how language is used in four selected Nigerian newspaper
discourse on insecurity. The study adopted the Norman Fairclough’s (2001)
Member Resources, van Dijk’s (2004) Socio Cognitive approach and principles of
Halliday’s system of transitivity as theoretical foundations. A total of ten
(10) insecurity news were purposively selected from the four Nigerian dailies (Daily
Trust,The Guardian, The Punch and The Nation). The newspapers
were selected from the editions published between July 2022 and August 2022,
Findings of the study showed that Nigerian newspapers deploy lexical, syntactic
and discursive devices in representing insecurity reports as a strategy of domination
and supremacy with the use of exploiting lexical items and strong imperatives
which allow them impose their views on others. This study concludes that news
reports on insurgents crisis in Nigeria do not only inform the audience about
the latest activities relating to insurgencies and government’s steps towards
stemming the menace but they also help to celebrate and praise security
agencies in their fight against insurgencies.
DOI: 10.36349/alqajolls.2026.v01i02.010
author/Babagogata Alhaji Haruna Ph.D.
journal/AL-QALAM JLLS 1(2) | June 2026
